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Why French & Italian?

Active Approach to Learning

You can choose from a wide range of courses each semester. First-year courses provide a supportive learning environment to develop your communication skills through interactive, meaning-based activities. In second-year courses, you will further develop your skills with an emphasis on reading and writing. Third-year courses will allow you to hone your language skills while studying the culture, literature, film, and linguistics of France, Italy, and the broader francophone world. Along with your language skills, you will also study various aspects of French and Francophone or Italian cultures.

Outstanding Teaching

You will be learning from professors and experienced teaching assistants and specialists—several of them from French- or Italian-speaking countries in Europe (Italy, Val d'Aoste, France, Switzerland), Africa (Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia), and the Caribbean (Haiti, Guadeloupe). Classes for majors and minors are small and taught by distinguished scholars. Faculty in the department have won the Morse Alumni Undergraduate Teaching Award and the Arthur "Red" Motley Exemplary Teaching Award.

Greater Understanding

Learning another language increases your appreciation and understanding of other people and cultures.

Studying French and Italian opens the door to many areas, including art, business, fashion, film, history, international relations, literature, music, and painting.

It enhances your travel opportunities and helps you adjust more easily to new environments.

Being proficient in more than one language and more than one culture can open a world of job possibilities. Applicants who are proficient in at least two languages have an advantage in national and international job markets.

Above all, learning a language other than your own opens you to another view of the world.